ARMENIAN - Erevangala500

as the Moslems simply could not accept the rule of
the Georgian and Armenian Christians in these large
regions.
Prince Vorontsov, who was in charge of reorganizing
this region, broke it up into a large number of
small political provinces. The Armenians lived
mainly in the province o f Tiflis, but they soon came
in large numbers to the Erivan region as well.
1854 was also the year o f the Crimean War, which broke
out because the Ottomans refused to recognize a
general Russian protectorate o f the Christians o f the
Ottoman Empire.
The goal o f the Russians was to bring about the fall
of the Ottoman Empire. They wanted to let the "sick
man on the Bosphorus" die and seize power themselves.
1854 Kars fell to the Russians after a heroic defense.
1856 The "Protocol o f Vienna" brought an end to the Crimean
War. The Peace of Paris, in the same year, was
a genuine success for the Ottoman Empire. Kars
was given back to them, and the odious "protectorate"
over the Orthodox Christians of Turkey was
abolished. (This protectorate could almost be seen
as an anticipation o f the later Brezhnev Doctrine.)
England, in particular, had refused to accept the
plans for dividing up the Ottoman Empire because
they saw their own interests endangered. Just twenty
years later, Russia would try once again to bring
the Ottoman Empire to its knees.
1863 A "Reglement de la nation armenienne" was published.
This did not alter the status o f the Armenians
within the Ottoman Empire in any way. Its purpose
was to restrict the rights of the patriarch, in accordance
with the wishes of the representatives of the
Armenian minority. The creation of the Catholic
and Protestant millets had already curbed the power
o f the patriarch. Now the political representatives of
the Armenians were getting into the act as well, and
everyone was fighting with everyone else to gain
the upper hand within the Armenian millet. The
effect was obviously detrimental to the Armenians
and only profitable for the radicals.
Sensible Armenians recognized even then that it
could only have disastrous consequences for their
people if the old plans to set up a Greek Orthodox
Byzantium under Russian protectorate were realized.
These plans had not been forgotten since the
Crimean conference between Joseph II. and
Catherine II. If carried out, they would certainly
have led to renewed attempts from the Greek (or
Russian) Orthodox Church to bring the Armenians
entirely under their control.
Russian rule in the Caucasus had already demonstrated
quite clearly that the Czar had never
dreamed of granting special rights to the Armenians
and certainly had no thought of granting them their
independence as some had hoped. That would only
50
The Russian victory in the war of 1878/79 was disastrous for
the Ottoman Empire and also brought on a catastrophe for the
Turks of the Balkan peninsula. Within just a few days, 400,000
Islamic Turks were slaughtered in the newly formed principality
o f Bulgaria. More than one million Turkish refugees fled to
Istanbul. The refugees tried in desperation to free the deposed
Sultan, Murad, who was interned in Ciragan Palace. They
believed he might be able to change the course o f the war. The
guards were responsible for a bloodbath among the rebels.
(Drawing from the VSEMIRNAYA ILLUSTRATIYA, St.
Petersburg, May 24, 1878.) None of the major powers saw fit
to champion the cause of the Ottoman refugees. The mass murders
went unpunished.
One of the masterpieces o f Ottoman-Armenian architecture.
Even in ruins, it was still enchantingly beautiful. This is what
remaind of Ciragan Palace on the Bosphorus, built by Nigogosh
Balyan. Sultan Murad V spent his years o f banishment here.
Today, after renovation, it serves as a de luxe hotel.
have led the other nations under Russian control to
have similar thoughts of independence. The fact is
that until 1870 the Armenians were of almost no
significance on the international political scene. The
calamity that was to come crept up slowly, almost
unnoticed.
1876 A conference of ambassadors in Istanbul simply
refused outright to accept a demarche from the Armenian
patriarch. The only ones who had ever
shown any interest in the Armenians were the Rus­